The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas appliances, such as gas ranges, and more particularly, to multi-ringed burners for use in such gas appliances.
For gas burners that are used as surface heating units in cooking appliances, such as ranges and cooktops, a sealed burner mounting is generally desirable. In a sealed burner mounting, there are no gaps between the burner assembly and the cooktop surface the burner assembly mounts on to allow spills to get beneath the cooktop surface. Multi-ringed gas burner assemblies are also desirable for improved performance. Multi-ringed gas burner assemblies typically include at least an inner gas burner and an outer gas burner for collectively producing a plurality of rings of flame to heat a utensil supported thereon. In a sealed multi-ringed burner, there are no gaps around the burner to allow spills or air to get inside the cooktop. Sealed multi-ringed burners thus need a method to introduce secondary air into the inner ring of flame for proper combustion.
A number of techniques exist for introducing secondary air into the center ring of flame in a multi-ringed burner. For example, in a floating burner head design, the outer burner head is spaced up above the maintop to allow air to travel beneath it. The floating burner head design, however, has an unsightly gap between the burner and the maintop, and exhibits a taller burner profile. In another design approach, vents in the maintop feed air to the center of the burner from beneath the maintop. The vented design approach, however, allows spills to travel through these vents, beneath the maintop, which are not possible to clean without disassembling the maintop unit. In yet another design approach, slots are introduced through the sides of the outer burner head to feed air to the center. The slotted design approach, however, requires complex tooling with retractable sections, is difficult to clean within the slots, and exhibits a taller burner profile.
Thus, a need remains for an improved multi-ring burner design. Yet another need exists for an improved multi-ringed burner with improved aesthetics that can be more easily cleaned and provides a more compact design than existing design approaches.